The Dreamer Saga
The Dreamer Saga is one of the primary holy texts of Esther's faith. It details the journey of an elven maiden through untold horrors to free her lover from the clutches of Illarath, and is divided into three acts. Act 1: Ascent An elven woman by the name of Kyonna is due to marry her lifelong love Varonar, when he goes missing the night before the ceremony. Distraught, Kyonna falls into a coma-like spell and is visited by the goddess Esther herself. Esther informs the crestfallen bride that her groom has been spirited away by the Chill of the Void, and that the only way to bring him back is for her to journey to Illarath's frozen citadel at the edge of the sky. When Kyonna awoke, she found a jeweled starknife at her feet, and a feathered circlet. The circlet allowed her to fly up through the islands above, facing resistance and misdirection as Illarath became aware of her progress. The jeweled blade was blessed with Esther's wisdom, and it gave Kyonna the insight to overcome both the unsightly horrors sent by Illarath from the Astral Plane, and to defy the madness that flight in the Skylands typically brings. The first act ends with Kyonna slicing through the frozen gate to Illarath's nightmare realm, and a brief vision of Kyonna's groom. Act 2: Darkness With the seal on Illarath's demiplane broken, untold horrors spilled into the Skylands. Esther herself appeared to stem the tide, and to allow Kyonna to storm the citadel of the Nightmare God. Since gods cannot trespass on one another's realms without breaking the peace the Skylands' gods have enjoyed since the Worldfire, only Kyonna could pass into the darkness. The trials that she encountered inside the citadel are used as inspirational stories to highlight the strength of spirit, joy, and grace that are the pillars of Esther's faith, along with a fair amount of divine provenance. Many religious scholars over the ages have happily noted how the descriptions of Illarath's minions and charges are often brief and vague, since actual descriptions of those monstrosities would probably make the stories much less inspirational. The act ends with Kyonna pinning Illarath's most trusted exarch to a wall with Esther's jeweled blade, and freeing her groom-to-be from the god's deepest prison by sundering the feathered circlet and flooding the cells with light. Act 3: Horizon Leading a pack of freed spirits out of the bowels of Illarath's citadel, Kyonna and Varonar leapt into the void, praying that Esther would guide them to safety as they tumbled down through the skies. The minions of Illarath followed the freefalling couple closely, whispering promises of safety should they surrender to the Chill of the Void. The bulk of the act is given over to these temptations, and both elves remained steadfast in their faith as they plunged headlong towards the Roil. Just as the clouds seemed to open up to greet the two, Esther appeared again, banishing the remaining phantoms and catching the couple on the deck of an airship rising out of the Roil. often posit that this is the first recorded instance of an airship in any major historical text, but the spirited debates surrounding such matters are precisely as interesting as one would expect, and shall not be covered here. Esther personally blesses the two elves in their union, and offers the airship as a gift for Kyonna's valiant efforts. The two sail off into the islands of the Skylands, and the act ends as they wake on the morning of their wedding, clutching a jewel-encrusted starknife and a feathered circlet of gold. Interpretation While many scholars decry the "it was all a dream" ending to the tale as ultimately trivializing the trials endured by Kyonna, those of Esther's faith see it as the ultimate testament to one's strength of will to do what is right even while traversing the realm of dreams. It is also hailed as proof of the goddess's commitment to her flock, allowing them to travel whatever treacherous stretches life may throw at them. However, the one piece of wisdom that is most frequently attributed to this story is that should you see an elven maiden in your dreams on any night, you should help her, lest you bypass a chance to do great good.